Cantrell gets 6 1/2 years for fraud scheme
Post-Tribune (IN)
April 1, 2009
HAMMOND -- Political insider Robert J. Cantrell received a stern lecture and a stiff prison sentence from Judge Rudy Lozano on Tuesday.
His flushed face and fidgeting were the only signs of emotion the 67-year-old Cantrell showed as Lozano announced the longtime Lake County political operative and legendary high school basketball star would spend more than six years in prison and have to repay the North Township trustee $68,000.
In the courtroom gallery behind the defense table, Cantrell's wife cried, and his daughter, Lake County Judge Julie Cantrell seemed to fight back tears.
Lozano expressed disappointment in Cantrell, his former classmate at East Chicago's Washington High School.
"You were blessed," Lozano said, beginning with a list of Cantrell's accomplishments as a basketball player and school administrator. "But from the evidence in this case, it also appears you fell into the ditch called politics."
Cantrell was convicted in June on seven counts of fraud and four counts of tax evasion for failing to disclose his financial ties to a counseling firm that he helped win contracts with North Township and dozens of other local schools, judges and government agencies.
Cantrell collected half the fees the company collected from contracts he won through his political connections, had two of his adult children placed on the company insurance plan even though they did no work, and failed to report some $189,000 in income from the business on his taxes.
Cantrell's attorney, Kevin Milner, argued that Cantrell should be sentenced to probation or house arrest, reminding the judge Cantrell was a devoted family man who served as an officer in Operation Desert Storm and had never been convicted of another crime.
Cantrell himself spoke briefly before Lozano read off his sentence.
"I was born and raised in East Chicago, and I was raised right by my mother and father, and I raised my family right," Cantrell said. "I love my country and I will always love my country. No matter what happens here today, I'm proud to be an American."
However, Lozano seemed to weigh heavily testimony from Cantrell's former business partner, Nancy Fromm and statements from witnesses about Cantrell's wide-ranging, and apparently nefarious influence in local politics.
An attorney who wrote a letter to the judge recalling Cantrell's positive influence in his study of law and career, Lozano pointed out, was the same person Cantrell had threatened to install as a vote-splitting sham candidate in a race for Lake County judge.
"For every star I put up for you helping an individual, in many cases I took it away, because it appears you helped the individual to help yourself," Lozano said.
Cantrell declined comment as he left the courtroom. Milner said the harsh sentence was a shock.
"This was a case of someone who should not have to go to prison," Milner said. "His 'crimes' were minimal and it seems like his name was a factor more than his actual conduct."
Cantrell was ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on May 13. Milner requested Cantrell serve his time at a federal prison in Oxford, Wis.
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